I am recent iNaturalist enthusiast. I have been using the Seek app to capture all the flora around me possible. It’s extremely fun to sight beautiful plants and flowers and trees and insects and save pictures on an app that rewards you with a badge to spot them. What a joy to be present in your surroundings!
It’s especially funderful in Bangalore- the city’s so green! So many trees and flowering trees at that! I absolutely enjoy walking down streets laden with flowers, watching parked cars freshly showered with with yellow trumpet flowers.
Here’s what’s interesting however: as reported in the photo article above, these trees, amongst most others are native to South America. To quote, “the Yellow Tabebuia is a species of Tabebuia native to South America in Suriname, Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. It blooms in Bengaluru between March and April.”
This is only one of the many species that aren’t of an Indian origin. If one walks around Jayanagar, which is central-south area of Bangalore, they will notice huge trees with bright orange flowers as shown below:
These are called the African Tulip Trees. Lo and behold, these aren’t native to India either. In the midst of writing this piece, I have stumbled across a wonderful journal that lists the flowering trees in Bangalore and mentions their origin. There’s only 3-4 of these that are native to the Indian subcontinent. Most belong to South America and South East Asia.
It’s amusing to find so many non-Indian flowering trees that densely populate urban Indian cities like Bangalore. Cities, as have been understood, are defined by their migrants. Yet, in most Indian metropolitans, or upcoming ones such as Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, one would notice a movement against migrants, seeking reservations for the natives of the inhabiting State. It’s bewildering to watch these protests and demands take a place in a city laden with foreign trees.
Did the native trees also protest the inclusion of foreign species? What I am interested in learning about is how this phenomenon took place- I’m sure there are Indian trees too and they likely dominate (Is that something to hope for?) But how do foreign trees become native or become the city they are planted in? Gemini, my gal, has helped with some answers for the time being.
Apparently, only about 35% of the trees in Bangalore are native species. The “Garden city” as it has been referred to, has had a predominant preference for aesthetically pleasing, foreign species for their shade and ornamental value. As a follow-up to this piece, I am going to speak with botanists and/or naturalists to figure the history behind this phenomenon and the aftermath- was there an ecological protest? Have these beautiful non-natives done more harm than good?
Urban economics was a part of my Master’s coursework. The subject continues to be an area of interest and harbors my curiosity with every city I visit. It’s only fair that I wonder if Bangalore grew too soon- now that I have moved here. It’s the upcoming metropolis, alongside Pune.
Jayanagar is one of my most favorite areas in the city because of how green and peaceful it is. It’s also the most curious case within a burgeoning metropolis. You see, Bangalore is known for its tech-hub and the youth and the zillion businesses that started here. Yet, in the streets of Jayanagar you see glimpses of the Kannada culture everyday.
Every home entrance is adorned with a new rangoli every morning. It’s the same white rangoli, different designs, in a row along the streets. During Diwali, there was a cut melon and banana leaves at every house and business. It’s lovely to watch some culture be so strongly retained.
In Mumbai, Ganesh Chaturthi is the most widely celebrated festival bringing the entire city to standstill. But the city retains its very business-like atmosphere. There are only apartments and tall buildings. Culture is very obviously constrained within four walls of a small room. During Diwali, buildings are lit up in a mosaic of twinkling lights. On the daily, however, very few signs like the ones in Bangalore. Rangoli, especially, is a strictly vertical affair.
As lame as it might be, Jayanagar feels like the resistance to a metropolis: with its wider roads, the big temples, the many many flowering trees. In other parts, such as the techie’s hub in East Bangalore, there are potholes for roads and extremely limited greenery. That area appears to be more like an Indian metropolis, Mumbai’s narrow roads being a case in point.
I wonder if a city can ever be planned for being a metropolis. Any successful city, world over, has become huge and has attracted numerous migrants. Knowing that Mumbai cannot field this alone- were there signs in Bangalore’s history where pivotal decisions could have been made to foresee the congestion on its roads? Could there have been plans to integrate the existing population better?
Living with my parents, I observed how our house helps were treated everyday. My grandmother, especially, rooted in her tradition and age, believed in subjecting the households to harsh, unkind words should they take an unwarranted leave or come late. Sometimes, our helps took leaves and din’t inform beforehand- that’s inconvenient, yes. Other than that, the screaming and yelling at househelps has always bothered me.
I think it’s inhuman they way my grandmother spoke to them- god forbid if they were Muslim or from a lower Hindu caste. Couldn’t control my grandmother. I also couldn’t stop my mother from piling up the utensils for the househelp when she took a day off. There is a fundamental difference in having a maid versus having a househelp. Unfortunately, the (ab)use of the former term is generation-agnostic. I am living with GenZ girls who mimic the same behavior.
Our society, thankfully, believes and encourages waste segregation within the house. So, there’s kitchen waste and dry waste. Every flat, barring mine, segregates and disposes it every morning via the doorstep collection. My girls, however, find it inconvenient to walk 10 steps from the kitchen counter to the kitchen dustbin to segregate the kitchen waste. The help who cleans our house is also the waste collector for the society. Therefore, it is her job to collect waste personally from our house when she comes over to clean. The entitlement is obnoxious.
Most times, the househelps come from underprivileged circumstances which underscores their desperation for money. In due pursuit, they overlook working conditions, and likely do not understand when their time and services are being exploited. I am glad to see some States in India (Karnataka, more recently) consider bills that protect domestic workers- their rights, having a defined contractual agreement, social security measures and so on. I would love for the law to force the GenZ girls into paying our househelp the dues she deserves for cleaning up after them.
It’s safe to say this behavior and sentiment towards househelps also extends to street vendors and haggling for their wares. I don’t know the margins for perishables like flowers and garlands, but I’d be surprised if they were over 50%. Honestly, there needs to be a margin that ensures sustenance of livelihood and the business. To not recognize that some financial principles apply to all folks, irrespective of employment is to be a dumbfounded fool.
I am realizing it is incredibly difficult to change people, regardless of age. One can be stubborn and stupid at any age they so desire, and even surround themselves with the same clowns. It’s amusing and extremely disturbing.
For a million reasons, ranging from the industrial revolution to an unhinged consumerist mindset, the Earth has exceeded the previously critical threshold of 1.5 degree of warming. The natural warmth of the planet’s atmosphere has been disrupted by an accelerated production of the greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons (remember we protected our ozone from this villain once?). It’s the classic problem of too much of anything is bad. This excess is predominantly composed of CO2, which we have released too much of, turning Earth’s warmth for us into raging heat.
Thankfully, in more pockets than before, there are pledges and promises to reduce any further additions. Some of us are trying to control the damage we will most definitely inflict on the planet. Cue all the words synonymous with Net Zero Targets, Carbon-neutral, Low-carbon future et al; let’s call them the Net Zero Troop. These are a set of strategies designed to curtail the rising emissions from industrial processes of manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture. While there are numerous roadblocks in actually reducing emissions from these processes, for the purpose of this entry, let’s believe they are somewhat successful.
Despite an ambitious deceleration in emissions, the problem of extant CO2 enmeshed in our atmosphere will persist. The reduction in emissions will ensure less ensuing damage; the damage that has already been done cannot be addressed through ambitious targets and strategies. It is here, in this additional capacity, that Carbon Dioxide Removal enters the damaged stage. CDR, in short, refers to a set of technologies that, true to their name, seek to remove carbon dioxide from the air. This differs from Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage (CCUS); that character, which is a part of the Net Zero troop, seeks to capture CO2 from industrial processes and use it in relevant industries or store it underground. CCUS is a tool to reduce CO2 emissions from current industrial processes; CDR is designed to remove the CO2 from the air.
The CDR troop includes two kinds of technologies: Closed System and Open System. The more prominent Closed System Actor is the fancy, more infrastructure-heavy technology called the Direct Air Capture, or DAC. Quite literally, the associated infrastructure is designed to capture CO2 from the air, directly. (These Carbon-tech families have very lucid names, no?) This technology has predominantly taken off, by which I mean established, in developed economies:
The good folks at Direct Air Capture Coalition (DACC) who have mapped the extent of this technology, expect 93 such plants to be operational by 2030 “with a combined capacity of 6.4-11.4 MtCO2/yr”. As on date, the median production of DAC plants is at “100 tCO2/yr”. The captured CO2 is injected into the ground, geological storage.
Another Closed System Actor is the somber Biochar, which leverages biomass waste to capture CO2. The biomass waste is carbonized under high temperatures, also called the pyrolysis process, to produce Biochar. This intervention operates in a closed-setting of minimum oxygen, to capture the carbon dioxide in the lookalike of charcoal. Biochar is then applied to agricultural fields as an alternative to fertilizers to improve soil health. The settings in the pyrolysis system determine the effectiveness and longevity of carbon captured. Research suggests that Biochar can capture between 2-3GtCO2/yr, upon global application.
Unlike the Closed System Actors that are characterized by controlled environments, the Open System Actors operate in a more variable environment relying on natural processes to sequester CO2. These actors include: Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW), Oceanic CDR, and Afforestation. Of these, ERW has gained prominence, perhaps competing with the popularity of Afforestation – often misrepresented as a catch-all solution through monoculture plantations. Forests are ecologically diverse and better positioned to sequester carbon over extended periods compared to the plantations, which are typically harvested at predetermined times, releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
ERW attempts to leverage the mineralization property of rocks to remove and store CO2 geologically. The popular application in recent times has been that of ground basalt in agricultural fields. While this has observable benefits for the agricultural produce and soil health, its carbon removal process is a bit like voodoo. The theory is that absorbed carbon dioxide reacts with the basalt to form carbonic acid, which eventually through permeation into groundwater or run-off through rivers will form stable bicarbonate ions in the ocean, storing the removed carbon. ERW is expected to remove up to 2GtCO2/yr annually, once scaled.
Now, there are many questions that arise with respect to the entire CDR clan:
Each of these actors has a deep, jargonized process. For instance, what is pyrolysis as used in biochar? Biomass is of varied kinds. Do all of them make similarly potent biochar? Likewise, does ERW perform similarly across soil types?
How do these compare in terms of effectively removing and storing carbon for millenia? (I’m jk, but we need them locked forever, ideally, and for a long time, definitely). The measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system for this family is still being developed, and isn’t ripe for etching their strengths in stones. (Geddit?) Biomass-based approaches like Biochar, Afforestation, and ERW are dependent on soil quality and permanence of land use decisions. DACS is more dependent on ensuring that its inherent construction and storage of carbon doesn’t negate the quantity removed from the air. Until we get into this question, here’s a very well-made diagram from WRI:
How does one lay adequate emphasis on CDR and its credits being an additionality and yet maintain the importance of mitigation strategies? The net-zero clan’s rightful center-stage prominence?
We are lucky that the CDR clan is living rent-free with my two brain cells for the rest of this month. We are going to take these questions sequentially, with a focus on the Indian markets, and appear enlightened at the end of all three. The first question is a set of biographies, laden with scientific jargon. Armour yourself with persistence, we are in for a ride!
Going forward, we should leverage the asset. Actualize vertical markets to achieve the best goals. Harness the key action and skillsets. Actualize vertical markets to achieve optimal targets. Going forward, we should harness the plan. Leverage skillsets to achieve the best market share. Going forward, we should harness the key action. Actualize vertical markets to achieve maximum goals. Going forward, we should leverage the plan. Harness the asset and markets. Leverage vertical markets to achieve optimal market share.
Actualize the plan and markets. Leverage skillsets to achieve maximum targets. Harness the asset and markets. Going forward, we should leverage the plan. Harness the key action and vertical markets. Going forward, we should leverage the asset. Harness markets to achieve optimal market share. Leverage the plan and vertical markets.
Actualize skillsets to achieve the best goals. Going forward, we should harness the key action. Actualize the asset and vertical markets. Harness markets to achieve optimal market share. Actualize the key action and vertical markets. Going forward, we should harness the asset. Leverage markets to achieve maximum targets. Going forward, we should actualize the plan. Leverage vertical markets to achieve the best market share. Going forward, we should harness the key action. Leverage the plan and markets. Going forward, we should actualize the key action.
